Page 13 of Off the Stick
“Hold up, kiddo.Wait for Papa.”
All eyes turn toward the elevator bank and short corridor not twenty feet away from where we stand, and we see my daughter race at full speed, head down as she shoots toward us.
Right into Dane.
7
Ax
In the five years I’ve played in the pros, I’ve been hip-checked against the boards, blown up on the ice, and had one of my front chiclets knocked out.
But I have never been pummeled by a pint-sized little girl.
“Whoa there,” I say with a laugh.I stagger back on my feet, instinctively and covertly cupping my crotch to protect my balls.Once I know they’re not in danger from being badly injured, I reach down and gently grasp the shoulders of a tiny girl who barely reaches past my knees.
She looks up at me, all wide gray eyes and heart-shaped mouth, and giggles.“Oops!Saw-wie, mithter.”
It takes me a second to translate the words, giving time for Halle to speedily round the corner and push in front of me.
“Lenni!Be careful!”Halle grabs hold of the little girl’s hand and tugs her to her side, then looks at me in distress.She places a hand on my arm, offering an apology.“Dane, I’m so sorry.Are you okay?”
The touch sends an electric current up my spine so powerful it’s a shock to my system.
Am I okay?No, come to think of it, I’m not.
Because I’ve been knocked on my ass the last week since I learned that Halle now works for the Vikings.I’m seriously living in some kind of déjà vu Twilight Zone type of moment, and things keep getting stranger by the minute.
“Dane?”she asks again, concern in her voice.“Seriously, are you hurt?”
I chuckle.“Of course not.I’m fine.Pretty sure a kid her size can’t do much damage to a guy my size.Although it was a close call.”
Halle drops her hand, but the heat of her touch still lingers like a warm, pulsing glow over my skin.
“Good.”
The girl, sandy-blond hair swinging like a pendulum behind her, is now bouncing on her toes, holding up some paper that appears to have been colored on.“Mama, Mama!Look, Mama!Look what I made for your new desk.”
The wordMamadoesn’t quite register with me the first time it’s spoken.Or the second.But by the third time, I realize it’s directed at Halle.
I blink, my attention swinging back to Halle, and the question flies out of my mouth.
“You have a kid?”
I sound like I’ve tasted something that doesn’t agree with me, but I don’t mean to.I’m just in disbelief over the idea that someone I once dated already has a kid.
I suppose Halle could be married by now.That thought gives me a sad pause.
My question—or the way it was asked—has Halle’s cheeks turning impossibly red.Cherryred.
Her tongue sweeps out over her own heart-shaped lips, and her bright teal eyes meet my gaze head-on with a look of serious determination.
“Yes.This is my daughter, Lennon.”She bends down and swoops her daughter into her arms, settling her onto her hip.“Lenni, this is Dane Axelrod.He’s a Vikings hockey player, and they call him Ax.Say hello.”
Lennon grows suddenly shy, winding her arms tightly around Halle’s neck and burrowing her face into her mother’s neck.A neck I’ve been intimately familiar with.I remember how warm and soft it was.The dainty curve of it that I traced with my tongue and kissed with my lips.
I give myself a mental shake.Get your head in the game, bro.
Lenni waves a hand that still clutches the drawing and murmurs, “Hi” from her position in Halle’s embrace.Halle lifts her eyebrows as if to sayWhat can you do?And then pries the paper from her daughter’s hand so she can hold it out for inspection.
